Extreme Ghostbusters Virtual Season Finale - Back in the Picture
by J-R Virtual Seasons
Summary: December 1998: Kevin makes a new friend when Peter Venkman brings his family to New York to celebrate a special event, and the Extreme Ghostbusters are called to the city morgue to investigate a theft. But the thief is also investigating them. Winston and Ray join the fight to save humankind in general, and their friends in particular.
1. Chapter 1

Eduardo, Kylie, Garrett, Roland, Egon, Janine and Slimer were mooching around the reception area at the firehouse, all looking expectant.

'Weren't they supposed to be here by now?' asked Garrett.

'Yes, they were,' said Egon. 'Obviously they've been delayed for some reason. Go home if you want to – you'll see them tomorrow.'

'What d'you reckon, Rolster?' Garrett asked Roland.

'Let's give them five more minutes,' said Roland. 'I need to get back by eight 'cause my mom's going out to her origami class, but I'd like to stick around and say hi if it's possible.'

'There haven't been any train crashes this afternoon,' Janine reported, looking up from her computer screen, 'so they really should be almost here.'

'That's a car,' Eduardo remarked, as the unmistakable sound of a vehicle drawing to a halt just outside the firehouse became audible. 'It's probably them.'

Egon went to open the small access door in the firehouse's main entrance. Sure enough, Peter Venkman and his family immediately tumbled through the opening, laden with luggage.

'Hello, Peter,' said Egon, allowing himself a small smile. 'Hello Dana, Oscar, Jessica. It sure is good to –'

'Hey, Egon, could you go outside and pay the cab driver for us?' Peter interrupted. 'He's getting a bit antsy.'

'Um... yes, certainly,' said Egon, fumbling in his pocket for his wallet. 'Let's see what we've got here...'

'Hi, Dana,' Janine smiled warmly. 'Hi, Peter. Hi, kids. We're so glad you could come.'

'We wouldn't have missed this for the world, Janine,' Peter smiled, but his expression quickly changed as Slimer attached himself to his face.

'Slimer's so glad too,' Janine remarked.

'Obviously,' said Peter, pushing the overenthusiastic ghost away from him as best he could. 'Always the warm welcome, huh Spud?'

'This is quite a welcoming committee,' Dana remarked, nodding towards the four young Ghostbusters.

'Oh, yeah, here's everybody!' Peter noticed. 'Eduardo, Kylie, Garrett and Roland, this is my family – my wife Dana, our son Oscar and our daughter Jessica.'

'It certainly is good to meet you all at last,' Dana said warmly, moving down the line to shake hands.

'The feeling's mutual,' Roland said tactfully.

'Oscar, Jess – aren't you gonna say hi to everyone?' said Peter. 'They've all stayed late just so they can meet you.'

Jessica immediately tottered over to join her mother, but Oscar stayed where he was and adopted an indifferent expression.

'Forty-seven dollars, Peter!'

Everyone swung around as Egon re-entered the firehouse and slammed the door behind him with some force.

'Oh, yeah, sorry about that,' Peter said, sounding anything but. 'He had to take the scenic route 'cause someone was digging a big hole in the middle of the street right in front of Grand Central. And you know what Friday night traffic can be like. But we're here now, and that's the important thing! We heard someone was getting married. Who is it, Egon, huh? Is it you?'

Egon flinched as Peter started punching him playfully and ruffling his hair.

'Stop it, Peter,' said Egon. 'You know very well it _is_ me.'

'We're so happy for you both,' said Dana, giving Janine a hug.

'Thanks,' said Janine. 'I just hope we're not rushing into it.'

Everyone except Egon laughed.

'How was the train journey?' asked Kylie. 'Any delays?'

'No more than you'd expect,' said Dana. 'It was pretty bumpy, though – give me an airplane any day.'

'I don't like airplanes,' said Oscar. 'The train's much better 'cause you get loads of interesting views through the windows – it's not just ocean, ocean, ocean.'

'That depends where you fly to,' Jessica pointed out. 'And from.'

'Perceptive kid,' Garrett remarked.

'Why are you in a wheelchair?' Jessica suddenly piped up, giving Garrett a searching look. 'Did you have an accident or are you just lazy?'

'Jessica!' Dana exclaimed in horror.

'Just lazy, I guess,' Garrett beamed at her. 'I was born that way, y'see.'

'Does anyone mind if we talk itinerary for a minute?' said Janine. 'I've made up all four beds in the sleeping quarters for you and your family, Peter, and I've had an e-mail from Ray to say he'll be landing at eleven thirty tomorrow morning.'

'Excellent,' said Egon. 'You and I can pick him up, Peter, then we're meeting Betamax Bill for lunch at one o'clock.'

'Oh yeah, that should be fun,' Peter laughed. 'I haven't seen old Bill for ages. Has he seen much of Bigfoot lately?'

'Actually, yes,' said Egon. 'I'll tell you about it later.'

'While the boys are catching up over lunch, I'm going to take Dana and Jessica shopping at Bloomingdale's,' Janine continued. 'Then Winston and my sister Doris will arrive later tomorrow afternoon, time to be confirmed.'

'They're not arriving together, are they?' said Peter.

'Not that I know of,' said Janine. 'Dana, are you sure Oscar doesn't want to come to Bloomingdale's with us?'

' _I'm_ sure,' said Oscar. 'Shopping is boring.'

'So just what do you plan on doing while we're all out?' Dana asked, somewhat sharply.

'He could hang around here with us,' Roland suggested.

'What if we get a call?' said Kylie. 'We can't leave him here on his own.'

'I could come with you,' Oscar said brightly.

'That could be even more dangerous,' Roland pointed out.

'He can come and play with my nephew if he likes,' Eduardo announced. 'I happen to know he's at a loose end tomorrow.'

Everyone looked at Eduardo with expressions that seemed to indicate that this was the last thing anyone had expected him to say.

'I mean, they're about the same age and Kevin has some cool toys,' Eduardo felt the need to elaborate. 'I'm sure I can clear it with Carl and Beth... if you'd like.'

'Would you like that, Oscar?' asked Dana.

'I don't know; I guess,' Oscar shrugged. 'What did you say I'm s'posed to do with him?'

'Um... play with him,' said Eduardo.

'Play with him?' Oscar repeated, raising an eyebrow.

'Okay then – hang with him, chill with him, whatever,' said Eduardo. 'You want to do it or not, man?'

'Yeah, fine,' Oscar said disinterestedly, crossing his arms.

'Thanks, Eduardo,' said Peter. 'Okay, let's get these bags upstairs. Egon, can you give us a hand?'

'Certainly,' said Egon, 'but I'm afraid I can't stretch to forty-seven this time.'

Peter laughed and smacked Egon on the arm.

'Would you look at that?' he grinned. 'The guy's getting married and he finally cracks a joke!'

* * *

The next morning, Eduardo opened the front door of his apartment whilst struggling into his clothes. Peter and Oscar were on the other side. Oscar was carrying a guitar case.

'Not too early, are we?' Peter asked, a knowing smile on his face.

'No, you're right on time,' said Eduardo, smoothing down the creases in the front of his shirt. 'I'm the one who's running late.'

'A clear sign of an active and busy mind,' said Peter. 'Do you mind if I come in and take a look round your place?'

'Er... sure, if you want to,' said Eduardo, stepping aside to let his visitors enter, 'but I've arranged for Kevin and Oscar to meet downstairs, in the real house.'

'That's okay; I just like looking round other people's homes,' said Peter. 'And this _is_ a real house – don't ever let anyone tell you it's not.'

'It's very small,' Oscar remarked.

'It's compact,' Peter said sternly. 'Everything within easy reach – very practical.'

'Yeah, it suits my needs pretty well,' Eduardo shrugged. 'Can I offer you a soda or something?'

'No thanks, kid,' said Peter, 'I've got to pick up Ray in twenty minutes. Egon's waiting in the Ecto.'

'You couldn't have more than one person living here,' Oscar persisted.

'Well, that's the idea,' said Eduardo.

'Plenty of room to bring a guest back, though, if you want to,' Peter grinned. 'I bet you've had some guests to stay the night, right?'

'Yeah, one or two,' said Eduardo, concealing a small smile. 'My nephew, for example.'

'What about Kylie?' Peter asked with false innocence.

'The need for that arrangement has never yet presented itself,' Eduardo said, somewhat primly.

'What a crime,' Peter muttered, turning away slightly and smiling to himself.

'So do I get to meet this Kevin kid or not?' Oscar broke in.

'Of course,' said Eduardo. 'I'll just –'

He was interrupted by another knock on the front door, which had been left slightly ajar. He ran to pull it open. Beth was standing on the other side; she saw Eduardo framed in the doorway with Peter mooching around behind him.

'Oh, Eduardo,' Beth said awkwardly. 'I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were... busy.'

'That's okay, I'm not,' Eduardo assured her.

'But you have a... guest.'

'Yeah, of course I do. This is Dr Peter Venkman. Peter, this is my sister-in-law Beth.'

'Oh, I see,' Beth smiled, shaking Peter's hand. 'Yes, that makes sense. Kevin's all set up in his room if his little playmate is ready.'

Oscar shuffled to the fore with his guitar case in one hand and an unimpressed look on his face.

'Oh, how nice, you brought a... musical instrument to show him,' Beth remarked. 'Just don't play it too loud, will you? My husband's got one of his headaches.'

'Eduardo, we'll drop you off at the firehouse on our way to the airport,' said Peter, 'as you're running slightly late.'

'What about Ray?' asked Eduardo.

'He won't explode if we're a few minutes late,' said Peter. 'Come on, don't leave me hanging.'

'Okay, sure,' said Eduardo. 'Thanks.'

Beth led the way down the staircase with Oscar mooching behind her. Peter came next and Eduardo brought up the rear, locking the front door on the way.

'Have fun, champ,' Peter said playfully, ruffling Oscar's hair.

'Dad, don't!' Oscar said peevishly. 'I hate that.'

* * *

Beth pushed open the door of Kevin's room and stepped inside. Oscar slid in behind her and dumped his guitar case on the floor.

'Kevin,' said Beth, 'Oscar's here.'

Kevin was sitting at his computer. He clicked the mouse a few times and then turned off the monitor before turning around to face his mother and Oscar.

'Hey,' he said, smiling slightly.

'Hey,' said Oscar, not sounding very enthusiastic.

'Well, I'll leave you boys to get acquainted,' said Beth. 'There's sodas in the fridge if you want them.'

She tactfully retreated, pulling the door not quite shut on her way out. Kevin and Oscar looked at each other for several seconds.

'You can sit on my bed if you want,' Kevin ventured.

'Thanks,' said Oscar, and did so.

'Sorry your family all decided to ditch you today,' said Kevin.

'It's fine,' said Oscar, 'don't worry about it.'

A few more seconds of silence followed.

'I haven't had a play date since I was like three,' said Oscar.

'Me neither,' said Kevin. 'I guess it was easier when we were happy to just sit around and play with Playmobil for two hours.'

Oscar's left eyebrow rose in interest.

'Do you like Playmobil?' he asked.

'Sure, I like it okay,' said Kevin. 'I have a pretty decent collection of cowboys and Indians.'

'Are we allowed to call them that nowadays?' said Oscar.

'I don't know,' said Kevin, 'but that's what I've always called them. Do you want to take a look at them?'

'Do you have the Indian camp with the wigwam?' asked Oscar. 'I mean, the tepee?'

'Yes,' said Kevin, 'and a fenced area for the cowboys with two cows, a bull and a calf.'

'Can we set it all up on the floor?' asked Oscar.

'Sure, if you want,' said Kevin.

'Yeah,' said Oscar, 'let's do that.'

* * *

Roland's Mustang drew to a halt outside the New York City Morgue and the four Extreme Ghostbusters decamped from the vehicle.

'I hope you're gonna claim back the gas for this trip,' Garrett said to Roland. 'Why should you have to pay for our professional transport while Egon and his old buddies are out joyriding in the Ecto-1?'

'Yeah, I will,' said Roland. 'I don't usually bother, but as they've actually gone off with our designated vehicle...'

They found a reception desk inside the mortuary but there was nobody manning it.

'This place is creepy, man,' Eduardo remarked. 'Where is everybody, huh?'

'Lying in big drawers with tags on their toes,' Garrett grinned. 'Sure makes you think about your own mortality, huh Eddie?'

Eduardo frowned but did not reply. Roland went up and banged on the desk.

'Hello, anyone here?' he called out. 'Ghostbusters!'

An office door immediately swung open and a bearded man in a white coat came out to stand behind the reception desk.

'Oh, thank goodness you're here,' he said. 'I'm Dr Jack Davis, the chief mortician. Thank you for coming so quickly.'

'So what's the deal, Doc?' asked Garrett. 'We're used to dealing with dead guys, but not like the ones you've got here.'

'What he means is, we usually work with spirits rather than bodies,' Kylie interjected. 'Unless it's zombies...'

'It's not zombies, is it?' Roland sighed. 'I'm getting pretty tired of zombies.'

'No, it's not zombies,' said Dr Davis. 'It's not exactly ghosts either. It's... well, I'd better show you. Please, come with me.'

The mortician came out from behind the desk and led the way down a long, white corridor.

* * *

Kevin and Oscar had made an impressive display of Playmobil cowboys and Indians on the floor of Kevin's bedroom.

'You have to give some of the cowboys these grey knives in their holsters,' Kevin said apologetically. 'I've lost most of the little guns over the years.'

'That's fine,' said Oscar. 'It's funny how all these Indian figures have pink skin, isn't it?'

'Oh, I think they started to realise that after a while,' said Kevin. 'I've got a later model Indian chief somewhere with darker skin... hang on, I think I'm sitting on him.'

Kevin produced the figure from underneath himself and passed it to Oscar, who proceeded to inspect it closely.

'He has war paint too,' Oscar remarked.

'Yeah,' said Kevin, 'he's much more accurate.'

'He's cool,' said Oscar.

'I've always thought so,' Kevin grinned. 'So, what's in the guitar case?'

'My guitar,' said Oscar.

'Wow, cool,' said Kevin. 'Did you bring it so you could play me something?'

'I don't know,' Oscar shrugged. 'I guess I could, if you want.'

'Yes, I want,' Kevin grinned at him.

'I don't know, maybe I shouldn't,' Oscar demurred. 'Your mom said we might disturb your dad.'

'Oh, he won't care,' said Kevin. 'He's downstairs watching a movie. Go on, play me something.'

'I don't know what to play.'

'Let's think of something we both like. You play and I'll sing.'

'What do you want to sing?' said Oscar, laughing a little.

'Do you know "Scarborough Fair"?' asked Kevin.

'Yeah,' said Oscar.

'Let's do that one,' said Kevin.

* * *

'Missing body parts?' said Eduardo, looking slightly sick. 'You called us about missing body parts?'

'Yes,' said Dr Davis. 'I think they're being taken from the delivery transport while our pick-up guy opens the security doors at the back of the morgue.'

'Takes him a long time, does it?' asked Garrett.

'Yes,' said Dr Davis. 'He keeps forgetting the entry code for the keypad.'

'Did you try writing it down for him?' asked Kylie.

'That's more than my job's worth,' said Dr Davis. 'If it comes out that I've written the code down then they'll install a whole new security system and take it out of my wages!'

'Sounds like your security system is pretty useless anyway, if someone can steal bits of the bodies before they even make it into the morgue,' Garrett remarked. 'Doesn't your delivery guy keep his van locked?'

'Well, he's supposed to,' said Dr Davis, 'but I don't think he always remembers.'

'It sounds like your real problem is your delivery guy,' said Roland. 'I'd give him an appraisal if I were you.'

'Yes, I will,' said Dr Davis, 'but what about the body parts that have already gone missing?'

'You don't think the delivery guy could be taking them himself, do you?' asked Eduardo.

'No, I'm sure he wouldn't do that,' said Dr Davis. 'He's worked here for more than thirty years... why would he suddenly start doing it now?'

'I'm sorry, Dr Davis, but I don't really understand why you've come to us with this problem,' said Kylie. 'Why didn't you call the police?'

'I did, but they didn't seem very interested,' said the mortician. 'They sent an officer over and I showed him the delivery area and the incomplete bodies, but he made it very clear that he thought I was wasting his time. Besides, I thought maybe the body parts were being taken for some kind of weird Voodoo ceremonies or something. Don't you people deal with stuff like that?'

'Um... not really, so far,' said Roland, 'but I guess we can take a look at this problem for you. You'd better show us everything you showed the cop.'

* * *

The final chord of 'Scarborough Fair' finished reverberating from Oscar's guitar.

'You have a good singing voice,' Oscar said to Kevin.

'Really?' said Kevin.

'Yeah,' said Oscar. 'We should record some stuff together before your voice breaks. I have a quality microphone with a pop shield and a decent computer recording programme back home in Connecticut.'

'Is that an invitation?' asked Kevin.

'Um, well... yeah, I guess it is,' said Oscar. 'What other songs do you like?'

'Do you know "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls?'

'Er... I could probably work out the chords, yeah.'

Oscar began to make some ear-piercing sounds on his guitar. Kevin winced slightly.

'Oh, I think those last two were right,' he interjected at length. ' _If you wannabe my lover_...'

Suddenly the bedroom door burst open and Carl entered the room with a black look on his face.

'What on earth is that horrible noise?' he demanded.

'It's Oscar's guitar, Dad,' said Kevin.

'It's making my headache fifty times worse!' Carl complained. 'And what's all that Playmobil doing on the floor? I thought we gave it to the church relief fund ages ago.'

'No, Dad, I decided to keep it,' Kevin said awkwardly.

'I can't cope with you two hanging around the house on my day off,' said Carl, reaching into his pocket and bringing out his wallet. 'Here's some money – why don't you go out and buy yourselves some lunch? Your mom's gone to the store to do her big shop so you won't find anything to eat around here for a few hours.'

'Okay, sure,' said Kevin. 'Thanks, Dad.'

Kevin took the money and led the way out of the house, with Oscar trailing behind him. Kevin set off in a direction he was obviously familiar with, so Oscar fell into step beside him.

'Where are we going?' he asked.

'A sandwich bar I like,' said Kevin. 'It's not too far.'

'Does your dad always treat you like that?' Oscar ventured.

'He doesn't make the best first impression, I guess,' Kevin smiled ruefully, 'but he's okay really. He has a stressful job and it gets to him sometimes.'

'He's a cop, right?'

'Yeah. He works in traffic right now.'

'If my dad spoke to me like yours spoke to you, I'd probably yell at him,' Oscar admitted.

'He doesn't mean it – he's just tired,' Kevin said confidently. 'And at least he gave us money, right? Look, there's sixty-five dollars here.'

'Oh, cool,' said Oscar. 'My dad would never give me sixty-five dollars just to buy a sandwich. Your dad, er... well, he doesn't seem too worried about sending you off into the city alone, does he?'

'I'm not alone – I have you,' Kevin pointed out.

'You think I can protect you from muggers and stuff?' Oscar laughed.

'Maybe we can protect each other,' said Kevin.

'I'm sorry, dude, but I think your dad has rage issues,' Oscar announced.

'You're right, he does, but it's not because of me,' said Kevin. 'He's ashamed of being Mexican.'

'Was he born in Mexico?'

'No, he was born in the USA.'

'He's a US citizen, then.'

'I know. His parents were Mexican. He thinks people hate him for being Mexican no matter where he was born. Can you tell by looking at me that I have Mexican grandparents?'

'It might not occur to me straightaway if I didn't already know,' Oscar considered. 'But I was expecting you to be... well, you know, darker than I am... because I'd already met your uncle, remember.'

'Oh yeah, of course,' said Kevin.

'Are _you_ ashamed too?'

'Of my Mexican descent?'

'Yeah.'

'No, I think it's really interesting. I never mention it in front of my dad, though.'

'I have two brothers and a sister who're half English.'

'Yes, I thought you probably did.'

'They're half-brothers and a half-sister really... but then I guess Jess is my half-sister too, technically, even though I always just think of her as my sister.'

'That's because you've grown up together,' said Kevin.

'Yeah,' said Oscar. 'I don't like to talk about this stuff in front of _my_ dad. That's why I started thinking about it, when you mentioned your dad and the Mexican thing.'

'Is your other family a touchy subject for him?' asked Kevin.

'I'm not really sure,' said Oscar. 'He's never acted weird about it or anything but I don't want to be insensitive. Hey, hang on a second – why did you think I probably had a half-English sister and brothers before I told you I did?'

'I've seen the movies,' said Kevin. 'That guy with the nasal spray in the first movie is your biological father, right?'

'Yeah, that's meant to be him. But how did you know he had English children?'

'Well, he'd gone off to London in the second movie, so it seemed to make sense.'

'Yeah, I guess so. Y'know, come to think of it, I've never seen him with a nasal spray myself.'

'Do you see him often?'

'No, not often.'

'He's got plenty of time to use a nasal spray without you knowing anything about it then, hasn't he?'

Oscar laughed and punched Kevin on the arm in a jovial way. Kevin grinned and punched him back.

'How much further to this sandwich bar?' asked Oscar.

'It's just on the next block,' said Kevin. 'Look, you can see the sign from here.'

' _Halesworth Street Art Café_ ,' Oscar read. 'What the heck is an art café?'

'Don't worry about that, man,' said Kevin. 'They have, like, displays of pictures from local artists and you can buy them for huge sums of money, but you don't need to take any notice of them. It's the sandwiches that make the place worth visiting.'

'That's why you called it a sandwich bar instead of an art café,' Oscar grinned.

'Exactly,' said Kevin.

* * *

Eduardo and Garrett were being treated to a parade of incomplete dead bodies; they were both looking rather queasy.

'I think that's all of them,' Dr Davis announced at length. 'We had one with a missing thumb last night, but it turned out he was a butcher and he'd cut it off himself twenty years ago.'

'Did he sell it in his store?' asked Garrett.

'I don't know,' Dr Davis laughed, 'but the hospital records said it was an accident.'

'Well, thanks for the cadaver fashion parade, man,' said Eduardo. 'Do you mind if we go outside and join our colleagues now?'

'Oh, but I haven't shown you the most interesting thing yet,' said Dr Davis. 'You'll want to hear this. Look at this one – the hands have been taken.'

'Yes, we can see that,' said Garrett.

'But what you _can't_ see is that he was a martial arts expert,' said Dr Davis. 'And this one with no legs won the New York Marathon in nineteen forty-eight.'

'Well, I guess he wasn't going to achieve that feat again, even when he still _had_ feet,' Garrett remarked.

'Yes, but don't you see what I'm saying?' Dr Davis said excitedly. 'This one here was a gourmet chef, and he's had his entire digestive system cut out!'

Eduardo clapped a hand to his mouth and retched slightly.

'So are you saying that whoever's taking these body parts is picking and choosing the most useful bits from the specific people they belonged to?' Garrett inferred.

'That's exactly what I'm saying!' said Dr Davis. 'And if you add up everything that's been taken, it equates to pretty much one whole male body, except for a head and brain.'

'Okay, that _is_ pretty interesting,' Garrett was forced to admit. 'Well, we've got the paperwork so we can start investigating whether there's any connection between these people.'

'I bet there won't be,' said Dr Davis, 'other than the fact that they all had a particularly useful or specialist body part that's now been stolen.'

'So do you think someone's planning to sew all the different parts together and make some kind of grotesque mannequin?' asked Eduardo. 'Why the heck would anyone want to do that?'

'Well,' Dr Davis said darkly, 'a couple of possibilities do spring to mind. There are some really sick people in the world today, you know.'

At that moment, Kylie and Roland entered the room. Everyone turned to look at them.

'The cop who examined that delivery area,' said Kylie. 'Was he blind?'

'Um... I don't think so,' said Dr Davis.

'He must have been incompetent, then,' said Roland, 'or else he just couldn't be bothered to look properly. We found this on the ground beside the security doors.'

Everyone crowded around to look at the small rectangular object in Roland's hand. It was a name badge with the logo of the Halesworth Street Art Café printed across the top.

' _Hello, my name is Victor_ ,' Garrett read off the badge. 'Well, looks like we've found our guy. That was easy.'

'Do we have to go to this art café and interview Victor?' Eduardo asked, sounding very unenthusiastic.

'Well, I think we should, now that we've started investigating the case,' said Roland. 'Dr Davis, you should update the police about this. We'll leave the name badge here so you can give it to them.'

'Okay,' said Dr Davis, 'thanks.'

'We'll stay in touch,' said Roland. 'Now, does anyone know where this art café actually is?'

'Yeah, I do,' Eduardo admitted reluctantly. 'It's not too far from my apartment. Kevin took me there and made me buy us sandwiches and chocolate milk one time.'

'Great,' said Roland, 'you can navigate.'


	2. Chapter 2

Oscar and Kevin were sitting opposite each other in a booth at the art café, eating their sandwiches.

'You were right, dude,' said Oscar. 'These sandwiches are great.'

'I know, man,' Kevin grinned. 'You have to try their chocolate milk after – it's the best in New York!'

'Yeah, I can see that from the menu board behind the counter.'

'But unlike in most places, here it's really true.'

Oscar started to smile, but the expression froze on his face as he caught sight of something over Kevin's shoulder.

'You did say all the pictures were by local artists, didn't you?' he asked.

'Yeah, I think so,' said Kevin. 'Why, did you see something you like?'

'Not exactly,' said Oscar. 'Take a look over your left shoulder.'

Kevin turned to look at the picture that had caught Oscar's eye. It featured an executioner holding up a head, which he had clearly just cut off. The eyes of the severed head were wide open and the mouth was parted as if in speech. The background was mountainous.

'I'm sure that's Vigo,' said Oscar.

'What, really?' Kevin asked in surprise. 'It doesn't look like the guy from the movie.'

'That's because he was an actor,' Oscar pointed out. 'That looks like the _real_ Vigo – I've read a lot about him and I've seen a lot of portraits, and that is him!'

'Why have you read up about him?' asked Kevin, turning back round.

'Because I know what he tried to do to me when I was a baby,' said Oscar. 'It happened ten years ago... almost exactly. I've always felt that... well, that I should know as much as possible about him... just in case.'

'Just in case what?'

'Just in case I ever need to know it.'

Kevin frowned in thought, then turned round again and waved to the person behind the counter.

'Hey, Victor!' he called. 'Can you come over here a moment?'

Victor did so, smiling at Kevin in an ingratiating fashion.

'Ah, Mister Kevin,' he said warmly. 'You want me to bring you something else?'

'Yes, we'll each have a chocolate milk to follow,' said Kevin. 'But first I want you to tell us about that picture of the guy getting his head cut off.'

'Oh, that is a very old piece from central Europe,' said Victor, 'artist unknown. I bought it last week at an auction. It is not for sale, I'm afraid – I hung it there because I believe it adds a touch of class to the place.'

'You really think people want to stare at some guy's severed head while they're eating their sandwiches?' said Kevin.

'That is not just some guy, Mister Kevin,' said Victor. 'He was a very famous prince... and a great soldier and general... and a powerful mystic... and a genius, in many ways.'

'What's the picture called?' asked Oscar.

' _Death is But a Door_ ,' said Victor. 'Now I will bring you your milkshakes.'

He wandered off. Kevin looked at Oscar, who had adopted a serious expression.

'It's definitely Vigo,' said Oscar. 'That title is part of his last speech. The whole thing goes, "Death is but a door, time is but a window – I'll be back." He said that after his head had actually been cut off.'

'Gnarly, bro,' Kevin remarked.

'Looking at that picture, I feel... strange,' said Oscar, wriggling slightly in his seat. 'It's almost like I... I feel a connection to it.'

'That's probably 'cause you're a Vigo expert, dude,' said Kevin.

'Yeah, I guess so,' said Oscar, still staring intently at the painting. 'Still, I can't help thinking there's more to it.'

'Well, maybe it's haunted, like the painting in the movie,' said Kevin.

'Yeah, maybe it is,' said Oscar.

'Do you want to leave?'

'No, I want to stay and try the milkshake. But would you switch seats with me?'

'Of course, man.'

After a significant amount of wriggling and shuffling, they managed this operation successfully.

'Thanks, dude,' said Oscar.

'No problem,' said Kevin. 'Do you feel better now?'

'Yeah, a bit,' said Oscar. 'But I still feel like he's staring at my back with his dead eyes.'

'Try not to think about it, man,' said Kevin.

'Yeah,' said Oscar. 'Yeah, I'll sure try...'

* * *

Ten seconds after Kevin and Oscar emerged from the café, punching each other on the arm and pretending to shove each other into the street, Eduardo, Kylie, Garrett and Roland arrived from the opposite direction and entered the establishment. They noticed at once that it was deserted.

'Business isn't exactly booming, is it?' Kylie remarked.

'Hello?' Roland called out. 'Is anyone here? Service... er, please.'

The door to the back room opened and Victor emerged, wiping his forehead with a handkerchief.

'Forgive my unworthiness and my ignorance, but I have no idea who that boy –' he was muttering, but he stopped short in obvious alarm when he saw the Ghostbusters. 'What are you kooks doing in my art café?' he demanded. 'Get out – we're closed.'

'The sign on the door says otherwise, man,' said Eduardo.

'I'm just closing up now!' Victor insisted. 'Get out – you can't come in here!'

'Sir, we need to ask you a few questions,' Roland said firmly.

'Questions?' Victor snarled. 'What kind of questions?'

'Questions about the New York City Morgue, pal,' said Garrett. 'Now you'd better tell us exactly what –'

'No!' Victor roared. 'I refuse to talk to a gang of insane terrorists! Get out of here right now or I'll call the police. Go on – out, out, OUT!'

He picked up a broom and ran towards them. Garrett started to move to meet him, but Roland pulled him back.

'Come on, we might as well go,' he said. 'There's no point hanging around where we're not wanted.'

Victor chased them out onto the street and locked the door behind them, before flipping the sign on the door so that it read _CLOSED_.

'Friendly fella, ain't he?' said Eduardo.

'Clearly he's the one who stole those body parts,' said Kylie. 'We should go to the police and tell them what we know – this really is a police matter... or it should be.'

'Yeah – there's no ghosts involved, so it's nothing to do with us,' said Garrett.

'Kylie and Eduardo, I'd like to drop you two off at the police station so you can report everything we know to them,' Roland proposed. 'Meanwhile, Garrett and I will go back to the firehouse and tell Egon what's been going on.'

'If he's back from his lunch date,' said Garrett.

'Sure, that's fine by me,' said Eduardo.

'Yeah,' said Kylie, 'let's do it.'

* * *

Oscar's right forearm crashed down onto Kevin's computer desk.

'Ha, I got you again!' Kevin grinned.

'You're too good at this, man,' Oscar laughed. 'Let's try the left arm one more time.'

They clapped their left hands together across the desk and began to push against each other. Oscar squealed in alarm as once again he found himself on the losing end.

'You sound like a girl, bro,' Kevin giggled.

'Well you laugh like one,' Oscar grinned back at him.

'Do you yield to my superior strength?'

'No way, dude! Arm-wrestling's for babies. I'll show you something much better that requires _real_ strength, both mental and physical.'

A few minutes later, Carl was leading Dana up the stairs. Unrestrained laughter and cries of mock anguish were clearly audible coming through the closed door of Kevin's room; Carl scowled slightly as he opened it.

'Oh no, man,' Kevin was laughing, as he went tumbling over Oscar's left shoulder, 'not that one again!'

Kevin exhaled deeply and laughed again as he crashed down onto his bed. Carl looked on with a suspicious expression on his face.

'What the heck are you two doing now?' he demanded.

'Oh, hi Dad,' said Kevin, sitting up. 'Oscar's teaching me karate.'

'Hi, Mom,' Oscar said brightly. 'Good shopping trip?'

'Yes, it was fine,' said Dana. 'You certainly look like you've had a good time.'

Oscar smiled, and nodded rapidly. Kevin jumped up beside him and aimed his right fist at Oscar's head. Oscar blocked the blow, whereupon Kevin slammed his left fist into Oscar's stomach. Oscar doubled up and cried out, whilst also laughing.

'That's what he taught me,' Kevin said proudly.

'Now I wish I hadn't,' said Oscar. 'You were right all along, dude – you're too strong!'

'Well, just as long as you haven't been hurting each other,' said Dana, smiling.

'Mom, karate is not about hurting each other,' said Oscar, rubbing his aching abdomen. 'It's about discipline and self-control.'

'Right,' Dana smiled at him. 'Come on now, it's time to say goodbye to Kevin. Janine and Jessica are waiting in the car.'

Dana tactfully withdrew from the room, steering the bemused Carl in front of her. Oscar turned to Kevin and they both smiled, somewhat bashfully.

'Thanks for a fun play date, man,' said Kevin.

'Same to you, dude,' said Oscar.

Kevin held out his hand. Oscar shook it, smiled, and grasped Kevin by the shoulder. Kevin grasped him back and they indulged in a quick half-hug.

'Don't forget your guitar,' said Kevin.

'Thanks,' said Oscar. 'I'll talk to my parents about having you up for that recording session.'

'That'd be great,' said Kevin.

'Are you coming to the wedding?' asked Oscar.

'I'm not sure if I'm invited,' said Kevin. 'I'll have to check with Eduardo.'

'Maybe see you then, then,' said Oscar. 'Bye.'

'See ya.'

They punched each other on the arm and then Oscar picked up his guitar case and left the room. Kevin sat down on his bed, smiling to himself.

* * *

Egon stared at Roland and Garrett over his computer desk, removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes, replaced his glasses and adopted a thoughtful expression.

'It's a potentially interesting case, but it's really nothing to do with us,' he said. 'This Victor is probably just some strange person who likes to surround himself with dead body parts. Kylie's right – this is a police matter.'

'I hope they're actually going to do something about it,' said Roland. 'They can't have searched the unloading area properly, missing that name badge like they did.'

'I've got an old friend who's a deputy inspector with the NYPD,' said Egon. 'I'll give him a call and ask him to make sure this case is receiving the attention it deserves.'

'Is there any category of official in New York that doesn't have one of your old friends in it, Egon?' asked Garrett.

'Perhaps not,' said Egon, smiling slightly. 'Remember, I've done a lot of ghostbusting in this city over the years – people are grateful for that.'

'The ones who don't want to sue us,' said Garrett.

'Actually, sometimes they're the same people,' said Egon. 'Anyway, you can put this matter out of your minds now. I'll get Janine to bill the morgue for a standard consultation, and that will be that.'

'I hope you're right, Egon,' said Roland. 'I have to admit, I've started to wonder... no, never mind.'

'What's up, Rolster?' asked Garrett. 'Come on, don't hold it back.'

'It's just that I can't help feeling that something was going on at that art café,' said Roland. 'Something more than stealing pieces of dead bodies... something that we missed, or we didn't quite see...'

'Well, if you're right about that,' said Egon, 'I daresay we'll find out soon enough.'

* * *

A little later that evening, Eduardo and Kevin ran into each other by the trash cans at the back of Carl's house, each with a bag of domestic rubbish in his hand.

'Hey, man,' said Eduardo.

'Hi, Uncle Eduardo,' said Kevin.

'Did you have a good time with Oscar today?'

'Yeah, I did. He says he's gonna invite me to Connecticut to record a song with him.'

'Is that right?' Eduardo laughed. 'I'm glad you two hit it off.'

'So am I,' said Kevin.

'Did you drink his blood?' Eduardo asked teasingly.

'Uncle Eduardo!' Kevin laughed. 'I don't do that anymore. Hey, let me show you something Oscar taught me. Try to block this punch, okay?'

Eduardo saw Kevin's right fist sailing towards his face, and quickly moved his arm to block it. He then found himself doubling over in pain as Kevin's left fist slammed into his abdomen.

'Jeepers creepers!' Eduardo wheezed. 'That was really painful!'

'Yeah,' Kevin grinned. 'It's cool, right?'

'If you're the one who's doing the punching, yeah,' Eduardo said ruefully. 'I think maybe Oscar's a bad influence on you, man.'

'Eduardo! Eduardo, are you here?'

The piercing call suddenly came to their ears around the side of the house. Eduardo went out through the back gate and came round to the front of the house, where he found Kylie staring up at his apartment. Roland's Mustang was parked against the kerb, with Roland and Garrett inside.

'Here I am,' Eduardo announced himself. 'What's up?'

'There's a major hullabaloo at the firehouse,' said Kylie. 'Oscar's gone missing.'

'Gone missing?' Eduardo queried in surprise.

'Yeah... or he's run away, or something,' said Kylie. 'No one can find him, anyway. Dana's gone to talk to the police, but we know they won't do anything for twenty-four hours so we're all helping to look for him. Peter's standing by at the firehouse for any news, or in case he goes back there. Do you want to come and search with us?'

'Yeah, sure,' said Eduardo. 'Just let me get my coat and lock my front door.'

It was not long before Roland's car was pulling away from the kerb. Kevin stepped out from the shadows of the alleyway at the side of the house, watching the vehicle disappear into the darkness. He then turned his head the other way, furrowed his brow in thought, and started walking off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Kevin peered into the darkness of Halesworth Street and quickly saw what he was looking for: the unmistakable outline of an adolescent male figure hanging around outside the art café.

'Dude!' Kevin called out as he ran up. 'What're you doing here, man? Everyone's looking for you – they think you've run away!'

Oscar did not respond, but continued to do what he had been doing, staring through the window at the picture of Vigo's execution. Kevin grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him round; he recoiled slightly when he saw the trance-like expression on Oscar's face.

'Dude!' Kevin said again, more loudly this time.

'The scourge of Carpathia,' Oscar muttered in hollow tones. 'The sorrow of Moldavia.'

'Jeez, that painting really _is_ haunted!' Kevin exclaimed in alarm. 'Come on, buddy – let's get you out of here.'

'I sat on a throne of blood,' Oscar said distantly.

Frowning determinedly, Kevin hoisted Oscar's left arm over his own shoulders. He then moved his right arm around Oscar's back and grasped him firmly, taking most of his weight.

'What was will be, what is will be no more,' Oscar announced.

'Sure it will, dude,' said Kevin, as he began to set off along the street. 'We just need to get you the right kind of help.'

* * *

As he approached, dragging his listless companion alongside, Kevin saw that the access door in the main entrance to the firehouse was open and an adult figure was silhouetted beyond.

'Dr Venkman!' Kevin called out.

The figure started visibly, then walked out onto the pavement.

'Who's there?' Peter called. 'Oscar, is that you?'

'Yeah, it's Oscar,' Kevin panted, 'with a friend.'

Peter's eyes widened in surprise as Kevin limped up to him and dumped Oscar into his arms. Kevin then proceeded to sink onto the ground and lean against the firehouse wall, breathing heavily.

'What on earth is going on?' Peter asked in bemusement.

'When I heard Oscar was missing, I just knew he'd gone back to the sandwich bar,' Kevin panted. 'I was right – he was just staring through the window at the picture, obviously in some kind of a trance. I practically had to carry him all the way here.'

'Oh, well... I'm sure glad you did,' said Peter. 'Thanks. Um... I'm sorry, kid, but who are you?'

'I'm Kevin, Eduardo's nephew.'

'Oh yeah, right. Oscar said he had a great time hanging out with you today.'

'Yeah?' said Kevin, smiling through his exhaustion. 'I had a great time hanging out with him too.'

'You'd better come inside and tell me about this picture,' said Peter. 'I'll make us all some cocoa. And I guess I'd better let everyone know that Oscar's turned up.'

'Do you think he's okay?' asked Kevin.

'I'm sure he will be when he's got some hot cocoa inside him,' said Peter. 'Come on, Kevin – let's go inside.'

* * *

Kevin and Oscar were sitting opposite each other at the kitchen table, drinking cocoa. Suddenly seeming to snap out of his reverie, Oscar looked up from his mug and stared at Kevin.

'You okay, man?' asked Kevin.

'Yeah, I think so,' said Oscar. 'Jeez, that picture... You brought me back here, didn't you? You saved me.'

'Well, I wouldn't say that,' Kevin said awkwardly. 'I just... I helped you.'

'How did you know I'd be at the sandwich bar?'

'Because of how you acted when we had lunch.'

Oscar thought for a few seconds before fixing Kevin with a searching expression.

'Why did you come after me?' he asked. 'I mean, why didn't you just tell my parents where you thought I'd be?'

'Well, you know,' Kevin shrugged, looking down into his mug. 'I guess because I wanted to see for myself... and because I wanted to help you myself.'

Oscar beamed at Kevin. 'Thanks, dude,' he said. 'You just keep on surprising me today.'

'When did I surprise you before?' Kevin asked.

'Well, before we met, I thought our play date was gonna suck,' said Oscar, 'but we had the best time, didn't we?'

'Yeah, we did,' said Kevin. 'But I've really got to warn you about that picture, dude. It _is_ haunted, if you ask me. You should stay away from it.'

'What makes you think I won't... or I can't?' said Oscar.

'Because I know what it's like when a ghost gets inside your head,' said Kevin, 'and believe me, man, that is not a situation you want to be in!'

'Nothing's inside my head,' Oscar shrugged. 'I'm in control, dude.'

'That's what _I_ thought, bro,' said Kevin, 'but take a look at this!'

Kevin pulled down the collar of his T-shirt and exposed his left shoulder. Oscar's mouth dropped open in response to what he saw there.

'How the heck did you get that, dude?' Oscar asked.

'I let a demon get inside my head and then she stole my strength, came out of my head and drank my blood,' Kevin explained. 'I know what I'm talking about.'

'Yeah, I guess you do,' said Oscar. 'Man, that's a big one. Do you think it'll scar?'

'Yeah, I'm sure it will,' said Kevin, sounding slightly uncomfortable for the first time during the exchange.

'That's okay, bro. I mean, don't worry about it,' Oscar hastily reassured him. 'Scars make you interesting, y'know?'

'You didn't already think I was interesting?' Kevin grinned.

'Yeah, I did,' said Oscar, 'but now I think you're even more interesting. And I won't forget what you said, or what you did for me tonight.'

Oscar held out his hand across the table in an upright position and Kevin grasped it firmly. After a few seconds, Peter entered the kitchen.

'What's this,' he said jovially, 'more arm-wrestling?'

'No, Dad,' said Oscar, 'not this time.'

'Everyone's on their way back to hear all about this picture of Vigo,' said Peter, 'so I hope you two are ready to tell your story again.'

'Of course,' said Kevin. 'If that picture really is haunted, I want to do whatever I can to help the Ghostbusters deal with it.'

'You've already done more than your fair share, Kevin,' said Peter, 'but something tells me that for the rest of us, there's a lot of work ahead.'

* * *

At the Halesworth Street Art Café, all the shutters had been pulled down and locked. The only source of light inside the building came from a circle of tall white candles that had been meticulously arranged on the floor in front of the portrait of Vigo's execution. Victor was kneeling in the centre of the circle, staring up in awe at the picture. As he watched, the lips on Vigo's severed head started to move.

'I, Vigo, the scourge of Carpathia,' the deep, ominous tones reverberated around the café, 'the sorrow of Moldavia, command you.'

Victor bowed his head in reverence and said, 'Command me, lord.'


	3. Chapter 3

Garrett, Peter, Oscar and Jessica were all sitting on the deck of a cabin cruiser, staring at fishing lines and wearing matching jumpers.

'Fishing's boring,' said Oscar.

'You said shopping was boring,' said Peter.

'Newsflash,' said Oscar. 'You can hate shopping _and_ fishing. It's not a crime, okay?'

'I like fishing,' said Jessica. 'It's better than shopping, anyways. It's better than guitar. It's better than karate.'

'It is not!' said Oscar.

'What do you think, Garrett?' Peter cut across them. 'You like our little fishing tradition, don't you?'

'Not really,' said Garrett. 'I've just remembered how cold and bored I was the last time.'

'So why'd you come?' asked Oscar.

'Aren't you supposed to be figuring out why Oscar ran away and went nuts?' added Jessica.

'Who told you I went nuts?' Oscar said irritably. 'I'm fine. No one has to do anything for me.'

Just as he finished saying this, an enormous wind whipped up suddenly, and almost blew Jessica off the boat. Oscar grabbed her, and they all raised their arms to protect themselves.

'Kids, get in the cabin!' Peter yelled through the noise.

'Why don't we _all_ get in the cabin?' said Garrett.

They tried, but Garrett found himself rolling around the deck in all directions, while the three Venkmans fought the wind to no avail. Oscar cried out in anguish as Jessica was suddenly ripped from his arms, and a moment later he was hurled off his feet, ending up in a sitting position against the stern of the boat. As he tried to gather his wits, the powerful wind shrank into a concentrated area in front of him, and then formed into the face and upper torso of a human being.

'Who are you?' it demanded.

'W-what?' said Oscar.

'Your name, boy! What is it?'

'Don't tell him your name, Oscar!' Jessica called to him.

'Oscar,' the voice repeated, in sinister tones. 'Oscar _what_?'

'If I tell you,' said Oscar, shrinking away from the wind, 'will you leave me the heck alone?'

'If you leave _us_ alone,' the voice said, 'I might. Now, tell me your name!'

'Venkman!' Oscar said desperately, grabbing onto the guardrail as he was almost swept into the sea. 'My name's Oscar Venkman, okay? Jeez!'

'Oscar Venkman,' the voice repeated. 'Stay away, Oscar Venkman. Do you hear me? Stay away!'

With that, the wind suddenly disappeared and the sea was calm once again. Oscar staggered to his feet, wide-eyed and tousle-haired. Peter ran over to help him up, with Jessica and Garrett a little way behind him.

'Are you okay?' Peter asked anxiously.

'Yeah, I'm fine,' said Oscar.

'What was _that_ about?'

'How should I know?'

'It's gotta be something to do with your picture of Vigo, hasn't it?' said Garrett.

'It's not _my_ picture of Vigo,' said Oscar.

' _The_ picture of Vigo, then,' said Garrett.

'Who was that, Oscar?' asked Peter. 'Did you recognise him? It was a guy's voice, wasn't it?'

'You guys,' said Jessica, 'leave him alone. Can't you see he's shaken up?'

'Thanks, Jess,' said Oscar.

'All right, champ, I'm sorry,' Peter said gravely. 'We'd better get you back to the firehouse.'

* * *

'Oscar,' said Vigo's severed head, from within the confines of the painting. 'Venkman. I know those names. Can it really be the boy I intended to use as my vessel ten years ago?'

'I warned him to stay away, oh great one,' said Victor, who was grovelling on the floor.

'It is not the boy that threatens me,' said Vigo. 'Does he still associate with the men known as the Ghostbusters?'

'I do not know, Master,' said Victor. 'But the Ghostbusters were here yesterday.'

'You lie,' said Vigo. 'I did not see them.'

'But you must have done, oh magnificent one. There were four of them... young people...'

'Did _those_ people call themselves Ghostbusters? How can this be? But of course... ten years have gone by. Perhaps the torch has been passed. Well, it matters not. Whoever they are, they must not be allowed to interfere. I think perhaps another trip to the morgue...'

'The morgue is being watched, oh great one,' said Victor.

'Very well,' said Vigo. 'Somewhere else. Now, listen...'

* * *

Oscar was sitting on a table in Egon's lab, with Dana clutching him round the shoulders and Egon running a PKE meter over him. Watching attentively from some distance away were Garrett, Kylie, Eduardo and Peter, with a gently restraining grip on Jessica, as well as Ray and Winston.

'I'm all right, Egon,' said Oscar, pushing away the PKE meter and wriggling in his mother's grip. 'It's not a big deal.'

'You might be right about that,' said Egon, 'to some extent. These readings aren't nearly as strong as the ones from your little adventure last night.'

'That's because he went to the art café last night,' said Dana, 'where the picture of Vigo is. The thing on the boat was some kind of minion or something.'

'What makes you say that, Dana?' asked Ray.

'Because that's what happened the last time!' said Dana. 'Don't you remember? That's how they kidnapped Oscar in the first place!'

'This one didn't try to kidnap me, Mom,' said Oscar. 'He told me to stay away.'

'Excuse me,' said Garrett, 'but it kind of had to be Victor the morgue thief, didn't it? Remember how antsy he was in the café yesterday, guys.'

'But how could Victor turn himself into wind?' asked Oscar. 'He's just a waiter.'

'There are forces out there that can easily control waiters, Oscar,' said Winston. 'Evil doesn't know the difference between a waiter and a museum curator, right?'

'Or a business owner,' said Eduardo. 'I'm pretty sure Victor owns the place.'

'You four will have to go back to the café,' said Egon, to the younger Ghostbusters. 'And don't let yourselves get thrown out this time. This is definitely Ghostbuster business now.'

'But me and Kylie told the cops about Victor and the café yesterday,' said Eduardo. 'The place could be crawling with them.'

'So what?' said Kylie, elbowing him playfully in the ribs. 'That's never stopped us before.'

'I'll go if you don't want to,' said Dana.

'Mom, don't do anything stupid,' said Oscar. 'I'm fine now. Aren't I, Egon?'

'I believe you are,' said Egon. 'If our friend on the boat wants you to stay away from him, then I think we can safely assume he intends to stay away from _you_.'

'He'd better,' Dana growled.

'Of course we'll go to the café, Dana,' said Roland. 'Maybe we'll find a nice, helpful cop who can tell us something useful.'

'There ain't no such thing,' Eduardo said, mooching off after his three teammates as they headed for the door.

'Hey,' Peter said, grabbing Eduardo's elbow as he passed him. 'Was that a green light I saw?'

'I don't know what you're talking about, man.'

'Yellow?'

'No,' Eduardo said, scurrying out of the room, and Peter watched his departure with a wry smile and a shake of the head.

* * *

'Hey, what gives?' said Garrett, looking accusingly at Eduardo and Kylie as they all alighted from the Ecto-1 in Halesworth Street. 'Where's all the police tape and stuff? I thought you guys went to the cops.'

'We did,' said Kylie. 'And the guy at the morgue must have shown them Victor's badge before that.'

'He can't be holding the body parts on the premises,' said Eduardo. 'If there was anything here to find, the place would've been declared a crime scene by now. _If_ the cops were doing their job right.'

'So they've got nothing on Victor?' said Roland.

'Not if they didn't find anything,' said Eduardo. 'They can't even prove he was at the morgue, with only his badge to go on. But y'know, this is just his work place – we don't know if they found anything at his home.'

'So what if they didn't?' said Kylie, whipping out her PKE meter. 'We can question him ourselves, _and_ we can find things the police never could. Come on.'

She led the way towards the café and, when she reached it, tried the door. It was locked. She kicked it in frustration, then turned to face her teammates.

'Maybe he skipped town when he found out the cops were onto him,' said Eduardo.

'So then what did he do with the body parts?' asked Garrett. 'And why did he bother warning Oscar away?'

'Any ideas, Roland?' Kylie asked helplessly.

Roland stood still for a moment, then walked past Kylie and hurled his whole bodyweight at the door. After a few seconds it gave way, and Roland staggered awkwardly into the building.

'Wow, Roland,' said Kylie, appearing at Roland's side.

'Awesome, dude,' said Garrett, chuckling as he rolled in behind Kylie.

'Didn't know you had it in you, man,' said Eduardo, clapping Roland on the shoulder.

'Well,' Roland said modestly, 'there was no point just standing around outside.'

'This is the picture, right?' said Garrett, facing the wall and pointing at one of the paintings. 'Dude getting his head cut off?'

'Yes,' said Kylie, 'that _must_ be it.'

'Doesn't look much like Vigo in the movie,' said Eduardo.

'So what?' said Roland. 'Egon doesn't look like Harold Ramis either.'

'So,' said Garrett, 'the picture's still here. What does that mean? Victor _hasn't_ skipped town?'

'Victor's not the problem, man,' said Eduardo. 'What if we just blast the picture?'

'I don't think that's a very good idea,' said Roland. 'If the painting is destroyed, then what happens to Vigo?'

'Can he get _out_ of the painting?' asked Eduardo, eyeing the thing with deep suspicion. 'You know, like in the movie.'

'He's just a head,' said Garrett.

'Right,' said Eduardo. 'Don't you remember the guy at the morgue saying that the stolen parts made up a whole body, except for the head and brain? That can't be a coincidence.'

'We still don't even know where the body parts are,' said Kylie.

'Surely they're not here,' said Roland. 'It's like Eduardo said, the cops would have found them.'

'They could've missed something,' said Eduardo. 'Cops can be pretty stupid sometimes. Or maybe Victor paid them off. That happens. But then he would've probably moved the stuff anyway.'

'Ssh!' Roland said suddenly. 'Did you hear that?'

They all listened carefully, but stopped straining their ears when they heard loud crashing and banging sounds coming from outside. Roland followed the direction of the noise, looked out of the window, then suddenly ducked and said in a stage whisper, 'It's Victor!'

'What's he doing?' asked Garrett.

'He's transferring something from a big wooden crate into a couple of sacks,' said Roland, peering over the top of the windowsill. 'It looks like more body parts. Oh, eww, it is!'

'What parts are they?' asked Eduardo.

'Eduardo!' said Kylie. 'What kind of a question is that?'

'I'm just thinking about my theory,' said Eduardo. 'Is it a head, or part of a head, or is it something he already had?'

'Well... neither,' said Roland. 'You told us Dr Davis said a _male_ body, right? And that looks like a, um...'

'I don't wanna know, Roland,' said Kylie.

'That one's a heart,' said Roland. 'Oh, and a spleen or something...'

'Eww,' said Garrett.

'What _is_ he up to?' asked Kylie.

'He must be making the bride of Frankenstein,' said Eduardo. 'Or the bride of Vigo, maybe.'

' _Must_ be?' said Kylie. 'You're leaping to conclusions there, Eduardo.'

'Well,' said Eduardo, 'what else could it be?'

'I'm starting to feel a little queasy,' said Roland, backing awkwardly away from the window, still in his crouching position and hampered by his proton pack.

'Are you sure he didn't see you, Rolster?' said Garrett, as Roland rose cautiously to his full height.

'If he knew we were here,' said Kylie, 'surely he wouldn't have made so much noise. We have to follow him. He could be giving us the answers on a silver platter!'

'Never trust a silver platter,' said Eduardo.

'We have to follow him anyway,' said Kylie.

'We can't all go,' said Roland. 'We'd be too conspicuous.'

'Well,' said Garrett, 'some of the city's best hiding places still don't have wheelchair access, so I think I'll pass.'

'I'll go,' said Kylie. 'Wherever he goes, I can follow.'

'Yeah, so can I,' said Eduardo. 'Probably. I'll go with you.'

'All right, then get going,' said Roland. 'Garrett and I will search the place. Keep in radio contact.'

'Not while we're tailing someone,' Kylie said over her shoulder, as she shepherded Eduardo out of the doorway.

'We should check that back room we saw Victor coming out of the last time,' said Roland.

'Yeah,' said Garrett. 'We should have done that straight off, but oh well – shoulda coulda woulda.'

Roland led the way to the door behind the counter, found it locked, and broke it down more easily than he had the door to the street. It was dark in there, so he found the light switch and flicked it on. Garrett came in behind him, but found that he couldn't get much further than the doorway; the room was cluttered, especially with Roland and his proton pack in there. There was also a small desk, a swivel-chair, a few crates, some filing cabinets and another door.

'No one's looked in these crates,' said Garrett. He had found one close enough to reach and was struggling with the lid, which soon came away. 'There we go. Plastic cups in here, Rolster.'

'I don't suppose he'd keep body parts in something like that,' said Roland. 'He'd freeze them, or at least refrigerate them.'

'Is there a fridge or a freezer back here?'

'There has to be. Don't you remember Oscar and Kevin talking about the milkshakes last night? You can't get a reaction like that from powdered milk. And the sign says all the sandwich ingredients are fresh too.'

'So we need to get through that door at the back, right?' said Garrett.

'Yes. But I don't think I could break into an industrial freezer, if that's what it is.'

'Well, Janine keeps all our keys in her desk drawer. Maybe that's where Victor keeps his. You can break into that, can't you?'

'No need,' said Roland, as he pulled the drawer in the desk and it came open easily. He then took out a large bundle of keys, chose the biggest one and tried it in the door. The lock clicked obediently, and Roland reached for the door handle.

* * *

A short while later, in an obscure and darkening corner of the city, Eduardo was saying irritably into his walkie-talkie, 'Garrett, come in! Roland! For the love of...'

'We must be out of range,' said Kylie, who was struggling with a large metal hatch in the ground. Then suddenly it moved, and she struggled no more, declaring triumphantly, 'I got it open!'

'You did?' said Eduardo. 'Wow. You must be stronger than you look.'

'You could have helped, you know.'

'I don't want to go down there.'

'Why not? Victor went down there.'

'We're not Victor.'

'I'm going in,' said Kylie, and she began climbing into the hole she had made.

'Wait!' said Eduardo.

'What?'

'You can't go by yourself, and we can't both go down there without telling anyone where we are!'

'You're right about the second one,' said Kylie. 'But why can't I go by myself? I'm armed against anything supernatural, and my proton gun would do for a psycho killer or something as well.'

'Come out,' said Eduardo.

'No. You wait out here. Keep trying to contact the others.'

Before Eduardo could utter another protest, Kylie's head and shoulders had disappeared into the hole. Eduardo stared worriedly after her for a moment, then returned his attention to his walkie-talkie.

'Garrett?' he said. 'Roland? Anybody?'

He listened to the static with a look of resignation on his face. Then suddenly he heard a blood-curdling scream coming from below, faint but unmistakable. Without a moment's thought he dropped his walkie-talkie and scrambled down through the hatch.

* * *

Roland was sitting half in and half out of the Ecto-1, speaking into the two-way radio, while Garrett hovered anxiously by the open car door.

'Kylie and Eduardo went after him,' said Roland, 'and now we can't get hold of them. We told them to stay in touch, but we were waiting to contact them because Kylie said we mustn't while they were tailing someone.'

'Are you sure that's the reason?' Peter's voice came back to him.

'Give me that, Peter,' Egon said in the background. There was a crackle, and then the voice came much more clearly to Roland, saying, 'How long ago did they leave?'

'Only about twenty minutes,' said Roland, 'but they could have easily gone out of range in that time.'

'Well,' said Egon, 'they can't have gone too far. I don't think it's time to start panicking yet, Roland.'

'I'm worried about where Victor might have taken them,' said Roland. 'He couldn't have led them to the body parts, because they're in the café. He's keeping them on ice.'

'Hmm,' said Egon. 'So much for going to the police. I can call them again about the body parts, but they certainly won't do anything about two adults who have been missing for twenty minutes. You two had better go and look for them.'

* * *

The underground bunker was aglow with garish, artificial light. When Eduardo reached the bottom of the ladder, Kylie hurled herself at him, and he received her in both arms.

'Are you okay?' he asked, staring down in astonishment at her cowering form. 'What happened?'

'Nothing,' said Kylie, her voice shaking. 'I overreacted.'

'To what?'

'Just some maggots.'

'Oh,' said Eduardo, still keeping one arm around her as she shifted to his side. 'I hope we haven't ended up in another one of those places where your worst fears come to life.'

'I don't think so,' said Kylie. 'It was some maggots living on some body parts.'

'Oh,' Eduardo said again. 'Gross. Do you want to leave?'

'No,' said Kylie. 'We need to take some readings, at least.'

'Okay, well... I'll do it.'

He gave Kylie's arm a squeeze, then crossed the space to where Victor's sacks were lying.

'What is this place, anyway?' he asked. 'One of those nuclear fallout shelters from the fifties?'

'I guess so,' said Kylie. 'If so, there'll be a bathroom through that door. I should probably go check it out, just in case there's anything there.'

'You should get back up top,' said Eduardo. 'Now we're both down here without anyone knowing where we are, and that's just dumb. Oh, man... these are gross. He must have dug them up.'

'What are the readings like?' asked Kylie.

'Hardly anything... just residual traces from Victor, I think. Egon was right – this whole thing is Ghostbuster business. Let's get out of here.'

He headed towards the ladder, while Kylie turned and put her foot on the first rung. Then there came a very loud, very ominous clunk from above their heads. They looked up. Then they looked at each other.

'Aw man!' said Eduardo. 'This is exactly what I was afraid of, and now I've let it happen!'

'You can open these from the inside, can't you?' Kylie said doubtfully. 'If not, how did anyone expect to get out after the nuclear war was over?'

'I got a feeling it's locked,' said Eduardo, 'and we won't find the key down here. But I'll try it,' he added, and began climbing the ladder.

'So...' said Kylie, looking nervously around.

'What?' Eduardo called down to her.

'Why would Victor dig up an old body that was all covered with maggots? Okay, so the morgue's being watched, but even so you'd think he could have found something fresher. I mean... I can't imagine that poor dead woman being useful, can you?'

'You think it's just one?' Eduardo asked.

'Yeah, I do,' said Kylie. 'Why dig up more than one grave when you don't have to? I'll tell you what I think, Eduardo. I think Victor _wanted_ us to see him. I think we've walked right into a trap.'

'So do I,' said Eduardo, his voice indicating that he was now straining against the concrete hatch. 'I don't think we're getting out this way, Ky.'

'I'm so sorry,' she said.

'What for?' Eduardo asked, as he came back down to join her.

'You were right all along,' said Kylie. 'I was the one who insisted on coming down here, and you would have stayed up top if I wasn't such a wuss about the stupid maggots.'

'There's no point blaming yourself,' said Eduardo. 'We'd better try blasting that thing open, but seeing as it was designed to withstand a nuclear explosion...'

'We can try, anyway.'

They both unholstered their guns, took a step back and aimed upwards. After several seconds of firing on full blast, they gave up.

'We have to look for another way out of here,' said Eduardo.

'I don't think there'll be one.'

'Well, we have to try. Come on.'

He moved off and started scouring the walls as though hoping to find a concealed opening in the concrete. Kylie looked at him doubtfully, then wandered over to the door that she thought must lead to a bathroom.

'It kind of makes more sense now, anyway,' said Eduardo. 'I mean, I was wondering about that part that Roland thought he saw.'

'The one I didn't want to hear about, you mean?' said Kylie. 'What were you wondering about it?'

'I was wondering how Victor knew it was the best.'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, he took the digestive system out of the gourmet chef, didn't he?' said Eduardo. 'And the martial arts expert's hands and stuff. So how would he know which female parts were the best?'

'If it comes to that,' said Kylie, 'how did he choose some of the male parts?'

'You tell me,' Eduardo said flippantly.

'I can't,' said Kylie. 'It's what's on the inside that counts, to me anyway.'

'That's not what you said when you saw _Titanic_.'

'Everyone gets crushes on movie stars. Especially that one. But no one could fall in love with somebody just because he looked like Leonardo DiCaprio. I guess maybe that's why Victor didn't steal a brain, or he never wanted one, since that's what makes you who you are.'

'The brain does?' said Eduardo. 'Really?'

'Well, yeah,' said Kylie.

'So, is that where the soul is?'

'What makes you say that?'

'When we went to Glens Falls, you said the person was the soul. But the brain is part of the body.'

'Okay, so maybe the soul _is_ in the brain,' said Kylie. 'I mean, it's the brain that calls the shots and determines who you are, right?'

'But the soul still lives after it. So, like, what if you put Egon's brain in Leonardo DiCaprio's body?'

'Wow,' said Kylie, giggling slightly. 'He'd be unstoppable.'

'But would having Egon's brain actually make him Egon?' Eduardo persisted. 'Because that's not how possession works, is it? I mean, suppose you put, I don't know... _my_ soul in there. A brain's just an organ, so couldn't I use Egon's brain to think my own thoughts? You know, like when I had to share with Pagan.'

'This is getting too complicated,' said Kylie. 'And there's no point talking about that anyway. I like your soul in your body.'

'Yeah?' said Eduardo, smiling.

'Yeah,' said Kylie, 'I do. And I like having these deep discussions with you, Eduardo, but right now I think we need to focus on getting out of here. What about this bathroom? The plumbing has to lead somewhere, doesn't it? Or is it just connected to a water tank?'

Eduardo went to join her and looked dubiously at the toilet, basin and shower.

'Probably,' he said. 'And even if it _is_ connected to the sewers, it'll only go deeper underground.'

'Isn't it worth a try?' asked Kylie. 'I mean... we'll die down here anyway.'

Eduardo looked at her for a moment. Then he said, 'I don't think so. The others'll be looking for us soon, if they're not already. They can follow Victor's PKE trail. I even dropped my walkie-talkie up there, so they'll find that.'

'Not if Victor's moved it.'

'Kylie, come on. They'll find us.'

Just then, from the bathroom, there came the squeak and groan of unhappy plumbing. Then suddenly the shower head burst off the wall, the taps on the basin blew their tops and water began spurting from both appliances at an alarming rate. Eduardo tuned and bundled Kylie out of the doorway.

'You were right,' said Eduardo, not letting go of her. 'That water doesn't even seem to be draining. We've walked into a trap all right.'

'And a good one too,' said Kylie. 'Eduardo, we'll never...'

'Don't talk like that. It'll take a while for this place to flood, and we're strong swimmers. Maybe the others'll find us in time.'

'So what, we just start treading water and hope for the best?'

'We can keep looking,' said Eduardo. 'If we're really lucky, there could be a key down here that Victor doesn't know about. Or maybe there's a way to turn off the water supply. You didn't happen to notice a stopcock anywhere, did you?'

'No,' Kylie said. 'Eduardo, I...'

'We got some time,' he said, letting go of her and turning back to the flooding bathroom.


	4. Chapter 4

In the firehouse, Oscar and Jessica were sitting at opposite ends of a single bed, each staring at a _Guess Who?_ board in different stages of elimination.

'This game is so stupid,' said Jessica, who was losing. 'Why can't we play something interesting?'

'You're too little for the hard games,' said Oscar.

'I am not!'

'Just take your turn, Jess.'

'Okay,' Jessica sighed. 'Is he wearing a hat?'

'No,' said Oscar.

Jessica flipped down two faces from her selection.

'You imbecile!' Oscar said sharply. 'What's the good of eliminating just two?'

Jessica looked up and frowned at him.

'Where are the others?' Oscar went on. 'And, more to the point, why haven't you found the _real_ Ghostbusters? I told you I don't know those interfering upstarts!'

Jessica slid off the bed and wandered towards the doorway, calling petulantly, 'Mo-om!'

Moments later, Dana rocketed into the room, followed closely by Peter. Egon, Janine, Ray and Winston trickled in behind them as Dana asked urgently, 'What's wrong, sweetie?'

'I think Oscar's possessed again,' said Jessica.

'Their friends will be looking for them,' said Oscar, and paused. Then he said, 'Certainly they won't find them if they are not alive to do so.'

'Oh my goodness!' said Dana.

'I don't care how you do it,' Oscar said. 'Just do it!'

'Oscar!' Dana said desperately. Then she turned to her husband. 'Peter, what do we do?'

'Um,' said Peter.

'Fight it, Oscar!' Ray called from the back of the room.

'What if someone slaps him?' asked Jessica.

'That's not helpful, sweetheart,' Dana said distractedly, taking a tentative step towards her son.

'Vigo and this Victor character must have done something to Kylie and Eduardo,' said Winston, 'and now they're going after Roland and Garrett! We have to find them!'

'You're right, Winston,' said Egon. 'Janine, would you mind contacting the Ecto-1 for us? And, um... do you happen to know where Roland keeps his spare car keys?'

'Wait, you guys!' said Oscar, sounding like himself again, if a little shaken. 'You have to take me with you. I think I can lead you to them. I... I _can_ lead you to them!'

'You're not going anywhere,' said Dana.

'Mom,' said Oscar, 'their lives are in danger! You have to let me help! Dad, tell her!'

Peter hesitated for a moment. Then he said carefully, 'We'd be with him the whole time, Dana. You know I'd never let anything happen to him, and if he can really save their lives...'

'I can!' said Oscar. 'I know I can!'

'Well,' said Dana, 'if you're going, Oscar, then I'm going too.'

'Good,' said Oscar. 'They're in real danger, Mom. And... I've kind of got a feeling they'll need a change of clothes.'

* * *

The Ecto-1 was now in another part of town, parked a few yards away from Roland and Garrett, who were wandering around looking at their PKE meters.

'Why did we wait so long?' asked Roland. 'Any trail Victor might have left will be cold by now.'

'Are you sure about that?' said Garrett. 'Because I've got something here.'

'Really?' Roland asked doubtfully.

'Yeah,' said Garrett, and he went wheeling off in the direction of a large building. 'Hey! Roland, look – that's one of their walkie-talkies!'

'So you think they're inside?' asked Roland, coming up behind Garrett.

'Inside a gross old warehouse,' said Garrett. 'Well, _that's_ original. We'd better take a look, hadn't we?'

'The doors are locked,' said Roland, giving them a shake.

'Of course they are. Victor's probably locked Ky and Eddie in, and now he's filling the place up with poisonous gas or something. We have to get in there, Roland!'

'Well... calm down, Gar. Let's try them on the walkie-talkie. If they're inside, they'll be in range.'

'Okay.' Garrett unholstered his walkie-talkie, and said into it, 'Kylie... Eddie... whichever one of you still has your walkie-talkie... come in!'

There was no reply.

'You'll have to break this door down too, Roland,' said Garrett.

Roland hesitated a moment. Then suddenly, he heard Janine's voice saying tinnily, 'Guys, it's Janine. Can you hear me?'

Roland went over to the Ecto-1. Garrett glared at the warehouse doors, then turned his chair around and backed forcefully into them. The doors strained; Garrett persevered, and finally the lock gave way.

'Kylie?' he called. 'Eddie? Are you here?'

Garrett found himself in a room filled with heavy-duty industrial materials such as pneumatic drills, blowtorches and forklift trucks. He ventured a little way into the room, but stopped when Roland appeared beside him, saying, 'The others are coming to meet us, Garrett. Oscar thinks he can lead us to Eduardo and Kylie. And he also thinks Victor's trying to kill us.'

'What makes him think that?' asked Garrett.

A gunshot fired. Roland dropped to the ground, and Garrett ducked as low as he could in his chair. The bullet evidently hadn't got close to either of them, as it ended up embedded in the side of a forklift truck.

'Drop it!' said Garrett, catching sight of Victor behind a barrel of flammable liquid, and levelling his proton gun on him. 'I'm warning you. This thing can do you some serious damage, Victor.'

'It'll kill us all if you fire over there, Gar,' Roland muttered through the side of his mouth.

'You know what's in that barrel?' Garrett said to Victor. 'You wanna find out the hard way?'

Victor hesitated for a moment. Then he dropped his gun, turned and ran through a door behind him.

'Hey, no fair!' said Garrett. 'Get after him, Roland!'

'There are more important things to do first, Garrett,' said Roland, heading for the main doors as he heard his Mustang pulling up outside. Then, when he saw all four original Ghostbusters as well as Oscar and Dana piling out of it, his face fell. 'I sure hope the suspension can bear all that weight. It was only just over a month ago that the velociraptor totalled the engine.'

Garrett, joining Roland in the doorway, said, 'Poor little car.'

* * *

Eduardo and Kylie were now treading water, and had evidently given up their search for a way out of their plight. They were close together, but stayed silent until the lights died in a series of bright and alarming flashes.

'We're out of light,' said Eduardo.

'I wonder how much longer we're going to have to wait,' said Kylie.

'For what?'

'Well... one thing or the other. I'm so sorry, Eduardo.'

'It's not your fault.'

'Yes it is. You know it is.'

'There's no point blaming anyone.'

'You're being so calm about this,' said Kylie. 'Why aren't you freaking out?'

'I am,' said Eduardo. 'Maybe soon I'll start showing it.'

'Or maybe we should talk instead. You know... take our minds off things.'

'Talk about what?'

'Well,' said Kylie, 'you know. Why I went with you to Glens Falls... why I went as Buffy for Halloween... why you ended up inside Pagan that time... why you shielded me when those guys were shooting at us with my proton gun... why Achira said what she did...'

'You're going back a long way there,' Eduardo said quietly.

'Yeah,' said Kylie. ' _Too_ long... don't you think?'

'Now I think so, yeah,' said Eduardo. 'Kylie, I...'

He was interrupted by a series of loud and insistent noises above their heads.

'What was that?' he asked stupidly.

'Oh my gosh!' said Kylie. 'I don't believe it! They found us!'

In her relief, she swam the single stroke it took to reach Eduardo and flung her arms around his neck. They sank, and resurfaced separately just in time to hear the hatch opening. They looked up to see the night sky, and someone in a welding mask illuminated in the light of a blowtorch.

'Yay, Winston!' Kylie cried out jubilantly, as the figure removed his mask.

'Took you long enough,' said Eduardo, gently steering Kylie towards the ladder.

'Sorry, kids,' said Winston. He shut off his blowtorch, then stooped down to offer them both a helping hand out of the hole. 'We may be slow, but we get there in the end.'

Standing behind him in the dim light were Roland, Garrett, Egon, Peter and Oscar. Ray and Dana were at the fore, each holding out a bundle of neatly folded clothing.

'We brought you a change of clothes,' said Dana, giving her bundle to Kylie, while Eduardo took the one proffered by Ray.

'Thanks,' said Kylie. 'What made you think of that?'

'Oscar,' Peter said proudly. 'And he saved your lives as well. Isn't that right, champ?'

'The scourge of Carpathia,' Oscar said hollowly. 'The sorrow of Moldavia.'

'Oh my goodness!' said Dana, running over to him.

'Why don't Eduardo and I take Dana and Oscar back to the firehouse?' said Kylie. 'We can't really help you with Vigo because we had to ditch our weapons to keep from sinking. Sorry, Egon.'

'That's quite understandable,' said Egon.

'Um,' said Eduardo, looking down at the bundle of clothing in his arms.

'You could change in the cars,' said Ray. 'We can probably spare the Ecto-1 for a minute.'

'You take it, Eduardo,' said Kylie. 'I'll be okay in the small one.'

'Okay,' said Eduardo, and he scurried off towards the Ecto-1, looking decidedly awkward.

'Oh, Kylie!' Roland said admonishingly.

'Not again!' Garrett added.

'I'll deal with it later, guys,' said Kylie, smiling slightly as she made her way over to the Mustang.

* * *

'You are a bumbling fool!' Vigo's head announced from the painting. 'I send you to kill the Ghostbusters, and what do you do? You let them get away. I should ask you for your head!'

'Forgive me, oh lord,' said Victor, grovelling on the floor once again.

'Those accursed fools will be on their way here, no doubt,' Vigo went on. 'Well, let them come. I shall be ready for them!'

Just as he finished speaking, there came a loud banging noise from the door, and moments later Roland burst through the chipboard that was keeping it closed.

'This is private property!' Victor raged. 'I still have to put in the insurance claim for the last time you broke that door down!'

'Where's the picture of Vigo, Roland?' asked Egon.

'It's right...' Roland began, but then he stopped, his pointing finger hanging stupidly in the air.

'That's not a picture of Vigo,' said Winston.

'No,' said Garrett, 'but it _was_. You guys, the head's gone!'

* * *

Not very far away, Roland's Mustang was caught up in a traffic jam. Dana was driving with Eduardo beside her, and Oscar and Kylie in the back.

'I can't thank you enough for driving, Dana,' said Kylie. 'New York traffic and everything...'

'It's okay, Kylie,' said Dana. 'I can understand why you two don't feel like it after all that. Do you remember when I was learning, sweetie?' She smiled at Oscar in the rear-view mirror. 'Jess was on the way, and I was so afraid I wouldn't get my licence before she was born.'

Oscar, instead of answering her, suddenly opened his door and ran out onto the street.

'OSCAR!' Dana screamed, and opened her own door to run out after him.

'Whoa!' said Eduardo, staring at the empty driver's seat beside him. 'What do we do now?'

Several yards away, a medium-sized truck braked just in time to avoid mowing Oscar down. The driver yelled something; Dana screamed in anguish, then took off again after her fleet-footed son. In the car, Kylie leaned over and pulled Oscar's door shut, then climbed over to the driver's seat and shut that door as well.

'I don't think,' she said, 'there's anything we _can_ do.'

* * *

Sure enough, the executioner in _Death is But a Door_ was holding up an empty fist. While everyone was taking this in, the door to the back room swung open, and out came a horribly disproportionate man wearing Vigo's head and a Halesworth Street Art Café uniform. He snarled angrily, then raised his hands and aimed a blast of energy the six Ghostbusters. They cried out and fell to the ground or, in Garrett's case, went careening backwards into a large painting of some elephants.

'Damages must be paid for!' said Victor.

'You will perish!' Vigo announced.

'Not this again,' groaned Peter, as he struggled to his feet.

'He's not as powerful this time, Pete,' said Ray. 'Just look at him. What does he have? Just a head and a Frankenstein's monster to carry it around on. And a real nasty one too!'

Vigo snarled.

'On three,' said Garrett.

'OSCAR!' someone yelled outside, and a moment later Oscar appeared in the doorway of the café, where he stood glassy-eyed and motionless. Of course, it was Dana who had called for him, and she appeared behind him a moment later.

'Ah,' said Vigo, turning and smiling at them. 'Dana and Oscar Barrett... or whatever your name is.'

'It's Venkman,' Peter said defiantly. 'His name is Oscar _Venkman_.'

'Of course,' said Vigo. 'So I heard. How touchingly sentimental. But of course, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet... and a child by any other name is just as weak. Come here, Oscar.'

'Oscar, stay where you are!' said Peter. 'Or better yet, get out of here!'

Vigo growled low in his throat. 'Come _here_!' he said, gesturing with his right arm, and suddenly Oscar was being dragged across the room without uttering a single protest.

'Get away from him, you creep!' yelled Dana.

'How do you intend to stop me, Dana?' said Vigo, gripping Oscar's shoulder tightly. 'With your good looks? You pitiful fools can do nothing to me! These are the legs of a marathon winner, the abdominals of a weight lifter, and the hands of a martial arts expert. And that's just for starters!'

As Vigo spoke, Oscar seemed to snap out of his reverie. He looked distastefully up at his tormentor, saying, 'You don't know the first thing about martial arts, dude.'

'You and I, boy, should be preparing to bring the world to its knees,' said Vigo. 'The new age will be upon us but a year from now. What do you say, Oscar? Shall we try again?'

'Oscar...' said Peter.

'Don't worry, Dad, I know,' said Oscar, struggling in Vigo's grip. 'You can't make me, Vigo! You don't control me! I'm not afraid of you!'

'Are you not?' sneered Vigo. 'Well, I have no need of your feeble body now, but who knows what the future may hold? In the meantime, you can stay with me as my hostage. Do you hear that, Ghostbusters? You will not interfere with my plans if you ever wish to see this child alive again!'

'No!' cried Dana.

'Come on now, Vigo,' said Winston. 'This doesn't have to get ugly.'

'I think you mean uglier,' said Garrett. 'Vigo, seriously... you look ridiculous, dude.'

Vigo turned to look at him, and growled.

'I've actually been wondering,' Garrett pressed, 'how Victor chose some of your parts. I mean, those legs are actually from some kind of circus freak, right?'

'You are in no position to cast aspersions upon anyone's legs!' Vigo roared deep in his throat.

'Oscar, run!' called Peter, but Vigo tightened his grip on Oscar's shoulder and turned sharply back to face him.

'You cannot resist me, boy,' he said. 'You are mine!'

Oscar was clearly struggling, but with a tremendous force of will he managed to say through clenched teeth, 'No... I... am... _not_!' Then suddenly he found his strength. He whirled round and aimed a punch at Vigo's head, which was immediately blocked by a muscular forearm. A moment later, Vigo doubled over in pain as Oscar's left fist slammed into his stomach.

Oscar ran. Dana received him in her arms, almost weeping with relief.

'You're no martial arts expert, Vigo!' said Oscar. 'I'd know! I'm a purple belt!'

'You are only delaying your fate,' said Vigo.

'Ain't that what life's all about?' said Peter, and he turned on his proton stream. The other five Ghostbusters all followed suit, and Vigo roared in pain.

'Trap him!' yelled Dana, practically jumping up and down in agitation. 'For goodness' sake, trap him! I want him in the containment unit! I never want to see that jerk again!'

'Aim for the head!' Egon shouted, but too late, for the head broke away and the body fell to the ground in a singed heap.

'Where is he?' Dana demanded.

'He's back in the painting,' said Roland.

' _What_?' said Dana, looking at the painting, and seeing that Roland was right. 'That's not good enough! I want him gone for good – do you hear?'

'Honey, calm down,' said Peter.

'He's not back in the painting,' said Oscar. 'He's still here somewhere.'

The Ghostbusters consulted their PKE meters. Then Winston, wide-eyed with alarm, said, 'It's Ray! Of course – Vigo possessed him too! Maybe he still has some kind of a hold on him!'

'Why, whatever are you talking about, Winston?' said Ray. 'I'm not possessed in the slightest.'

'Liar!' yelled Oscar, marching across the room towards Ray. 'Get... out... of... him!'

With each word he spoke, Oscar laid into Ray with a swift and painful karate move; inside the battered body, Vigo cried out in distress until he could take it no more. A vaporous substance began to seep away from Ray, and the other Ghostbusters didn't give it a chance to get away. Egon, Roland, Garrett and Winston locked their proton streams onto it, and Peter threw down the trap. The vaporous substance formed a face as it was pulled down, screaming and howling with rage. The trap clanged shut. At last, Vigo was gone.

' _These_ are the hands of a martial arts expert,' Oscar grinned, helping the fallen Ray to his feet. 'You okay, dude?'

'I'll live,' said Ray, rubbing his aching abdomen, as Dana and Peter rushed over to shower Oscar with hugs and kisses.

'What is happening?' Victor demanded, looking despairingly around his café. 'Why is there a charred headless corpse on my café floor?'

'You've had a violent, prolonged, transformative psychic episode,' Egon informed him.

'Hey!' said Garrett, as two police officers suddenly burst into the café. 'The cops are here!'

'Finally!' said Roland. 'We reported what we knew more than twenty-four hours ago. What took you guys so long?'

'We were waiting for a warrant,' said one of the officers, holding up a piece of paper triumphantly. 'So, um... those the body parts? Well, I guess we have grounds for arrest.'

'Don't worry, fella,' said Peter, giving Victor a reassuring pat on the back. 'We'll vouch for you.'

* * *

The next morning, everyone went to Egon and Janine's wedding. Waiting around outside, Peter and Dana looked quite exhausted, and Oscar even more so. Jessica was with them, picking at some ribbons in her hair and wriggling uncomfortably in a pretty dress. They were soon joined by Ray and Winston, who both looked tired as well.

'How are you doing, Oscar?' asked Ray.

'Fine,' said Oscar, yawning widely. 'How are you? Still sore?'

'A little,' said Ray. 'I can see why you're a purple belt.'

'Why doesn't anybody care how _I_ am?' Jessica demanded. 'I don't even want to be here. Why do they have to make all this fuss and force people to dress up and sit through it?'

'Jessica!' said Dana.

'This is a very important wedding, sport,' said Peter.

'Your dad's right, Jess,' said Winston. 'We've been waiting for this since before you were born.'

'I'm not saying they shouldn't get married,' said Jessica. 'They can still do that. But y'know, some people want to get married quietly, without being disturbed.'

'Is that what _you_ want, sweetie?' Ray asked patronisingly.

'Eww, no!' said Jessica. 'I'm _never_ getting married.'

'I'll tell Janine to aim for you when she throws the bouquet,' said Peter, crouching down to tickle Jessica's ribs.

'Dad, don't!' she said, giggling.

'What about aiming for Kylie?' asked Ray.

'Too soon,' said Winston, 'if anything even happened between them yet. But how long has Roland been seeing that girl?'

'What girl?' asked Peter, looking eagerly around.

'That one,' said Oscar, pointing discreetly. 'He can't have been seeing her for long, Winston. Look, she's only just shaking hands with Kylie and Garrett.'

This was quite true. Several yards away, Kylie was taking the young woman's hand and saying pleasantly, 'It's nice to meet you, T'Keyah.'

'Yeah,' said Garrett, with a penetrating look at Roland. 'Finally!'

'It's nice to finally meet you guys as well,' said T'Keyah. 'Roland's told me so much about you.'

'Was that before or after that demon turned him into a jerk?' asked Garrett. 'He was possessed when you guys got together, wasn't he?'

'Oh,' said T'Keyah, giggling and nudging Roland in the ribs, 'that was nothing. Anyway, I don't think he would have ever had the courage to come up to me if it hadn't been for that.'

'I was, um, admiring T'Keyah from afar all last semester,' Roland said sheepishly. 'I kept seeing her in the science department, between her premed classes. She's going to be a really great doctor.'

'Well,' T'Keyah said modestly, 'I'm sure gonna try.'

'Y'know,' said Garrett, 'liking somebody for one semester isn't so bad. I mean it's not, I don't know... almost _two years_. Right, Kylie?'

'You don't have to nag me, Garrett,' said Kylie, punching him lightly on the arm. 'I said I'd deal with it, and I will.'

As she spoke, Eduardo appeared on the scene, mooching along with Kevin and Beth behind him. Oscar waved Kevin over, so he went and Beth followed, leaving Eduardo to hover some distance away from the other wedding guests. Kylie marched over to him and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck.

'Oh, I'm so glad to see you, sweetie!' she said.

'You are?' said Eduardo.

'Of course I am.'

'Did you just call me sweetie?'

'Yes!' said Kylie, and kissed him, while a little way away a car hove into view with ribbons on the front and Janine in the back.

'Oh my gosh, she's here!' said Janine's sister Doris, appearing out of nowhere with Egon at her side and a young man at her heels. 'Victor, start getting everybody in their seats, quick!'

'Victor?' said Garrett, looking around confusedly.

'My soon-to-be nephew,' said Egon. 'We'll introduce you later.'

'Ready to get married, Egon?' asked Winston.

'Of course I am,' said Egon, as Slimer swooped down from somewhere to adjust and slime the flower in his buttonhole. 'Thank you, Slimer. Now, I think you'll all agree I'm quite ready.'

'I think you finally are, Spengs,' said Peter, grabbing Egon's shoulders and driving him forcefully towards the door. 'Go on, get in there. I got your back, man. Say,' he added, looking over his shoulder, 'would one of you kids mind telling those two we're starting?'

'I don't even wanna think about what _they're_ starting,' said Garrett, averting his gaze from where Kylie and Eduardo were still locked in their embrace.

'I'll get them,' said Roland, and took a tentative step forwards.


End file.
